Actaeon

ACTAEON, son of Aristaeus and Autonoe, a famous Theban hero and
hunter, trained by the centaur Cheiron. According to the story told by
Ovid (Metam. iii. 131; see also Apollod iii. 4), having accidentally
seen Artemis (Diana) on Mount Cithaeron while she was bathing, he was
changed by her into a stag, and pursued and killed by his fifty hounds.
His statue was often set up on rocks and mountains as a protection
against excessive heat. The myth itself probably represents the
destruction of vegetation during the fifty dog-days. Aeschylus and
other tragic poets made use of the story, which was a favorite subject
in ancient works of art. There is a well-known small marble group in
the British Museum illustrative of the story.